On Thursday, July 14, three children were killed by a landslide that buried a rural school in the municipality of the Andes in northwestern Colombia.
According to the reports, the landslide hit a group of preschool and first-grade children who were taking recess along with a teacher and the mother of one of the students.
The mayor of Andes, Carlos Osorio, told the reporters, “We give very sad news: three children lost their lives in this event,”
An earlier report had said eight children were trapped.
“Fortunately, 17 students got out alive … the teacher and the mother also,” Osorio said, adding that two other children were already in stable condition in a nearby hospital.
It was gathered that many villagers helped rescuers from the military in the effort to save the children.
The school’s only teacher, Eliana Rincones told journalists there were 22 children present at the time of the landslide.
She said, “We were at recess when suddenly we heard something very loud; we all turned (to look) and in a matter of seconds we all ran,”
“We didn’t even know where we were running.”
The landslide was the result of heavy rains plaguing much of Colombia.
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